The exchange of information and understanding between science and government is a two-way street that needs to turn into a highway. For over 10 years, Rhona Mijumbi-Deve has had a key rolel in building the infrastructure to accomplish this mission. As director of the Centre for Rapid Evidence Synthesis at Makerere University/Uganda, she is at the forefront of ensuring policy and decision-makers have the evidence they need for important decisions the moment they need it. In her interview with Julia Stamm, Rhona not only speaks to the problems the two fields are currently faced with when working together but also offers concrete ideas for improvement. Creating interactive platforms to understand the needs and processes each field faces is key to building better relationships. Although it may be uncomfortable, stepping into someone else’s shoes is often the best way to gain perspective and make meaningful progress and achieve a step-change in connecting science and policy-making.
Login or Register
You need to login!
Creative Bureaucracy Festival meets Science: Interview Rhona Mijumbi-Deve
Dr. Julia Stamm is the founder of The Futures Project (TFP), an international non-profit initiative to ensure that innovation and technology serve the needs of people and planet.
In November 2021, Julia received the Digital Female Leader Award, category Global Hero, for her work. Julia has long-standing leadership and management experience in national and international academic institutions and international organisations, such as European Cooperation in Science and Technology and the European Commission. She regularly advises national and international organisations and institutions on issues around science, policy & innovation.
Dr. Rhona Mijumbi-Deve is a research scientist and health policy analyst. She is a senior public lecturer of public policy at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM), UK and is also the founding director of the Centre for Rapid Evidence Synthesis (ACRES) in Uganda. She has been working at the nexus of research and other evidence, and the policy and decision-making processes for over a decade. She has been involved in championing the evidence-to policy field in Africa and has been behind the pilot or scale up of several knowledge translation units and platforms in the region and beyond. Her interests among others include interrogating the evidence-to-policy nexus especially in complex contexts, health security and health diplomacy. Rhona trained as a medical doctor and holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery. She later attained a Masters in Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and another in International Public Health. She also holds a Doctorate in Health Policy.